Krieghoff Mod.-1914
Krieghoff Krieghoff is a German small arms manufacturer, that was founded in 1886 by Ludwig Krieghoff in Suhl, and taken over by his son Heinrich in 1919. They manufactured weapons for both world wars and overcame the Great Depression through a Dutch big order. During WWII they were on the peak of productivity, with facilities in Suhl and Kinz, and round 6000 employees. After WWII their facilities were dismantled and afterwards blown up. The Krieghoff family restarted hunting and sporting weapon production in the 1950s in Ulm with round 100 employees. Krieghoff Mod.-1914 The Mod.-1914 was Krieghoffs first shotgun specially produced for combat purpose, and predecessor of the Auto-33. It is a pump-action, slamfire capable shotgun, that comes with a four round tubular magazine, loaded through a port in the bottom of the receiver. Safety is also important, the Mod.-1914 features a safety switch mounted into the trigger guard. To set the gun on safe, the safety switch needs to be pushed back into the trigger guard, which blocks trigger and firing pin. If you want to fire, just push the safety switch back to the front with your trigger finger. History As the Great War started, there was no need for a shotgun in German military service, because the doctrine was not aware of trench warfare. This changed quickly after the First Battle of the Marne and the Race to the Sea. When these outflanking efforts failed, the opposing forces soon found themselves facing an uninterrupted line of entrenched positions from Lorraine to Belgium's coast. Britain and France sought to take the offensive, while Germany defended the occupied territories. In this trench warfare, some German officers remembered the blunderbuss and its tremendous close range firepower in ship boarding during 17th to 19th century. They wanted to have this firepower to secure the trenches, and therefore sent a demand back to Germany. As reaction to this demand, a request was sent to Krieghoff, Germanys leading shotgun manufacturer. Until then, they produced breach loading single and double barrel shotguns for hunting and sporting purpose, but the military wanted something new. The military request asked for a magazine fed, short, light, easy to use, fast fire- and reloadable shotgun. To grant these requirements, Krieghoff worked with a 1854 patent by Alexander Bain, which was the first slide action reloading mechanism for a shotgun. It nearly took them a year until they had a first presentable prototype, but the generals were impressed by the outcome, as it was exactly what they asked for. After this successful presentation, Krieghoff immediately started mass production, and in February 1916 the first frontline soldiers were equipped with brandnew Mod.-1914.G (G for Graben, trench in English). As they had a terrifying firepower, these shotguns gained great esteem among their users, and fear among their opponents. The most notable campaignes this shotgun was fielded in were the Battle of Verdun, Battle of the Somme, Battle of Delville Wood and the Battle of Messines. Krieghoff continued mass producing the Mod.-1914.G until the end of war and the prohibition by the victorious powers through the Treaty of Versailles. This prohibition forbit Germany the production of short barrel shotguns as illegal military weapons, and all produced Mod.-1914.G were collected and destroyed. Today there are only a few Mod.-1914.G left, and they are priceless collectors items. Despite the prohibition, Krieghoff continued production of the Mod.-1914, but with a longer barrel. It still remained the same system, but it was considered as to long to be a practical combat weapon, as the barrel was nearly twice as long as on the version G. The victorious powers didn't want to have a rearmed Germany but understood the need for hunting weapons, and so Krieghoff was able to stay on the market with the Mod.-1914.J (J for Jäger, huntsman in English). This tenacity also brought them a Dutch big order which saved them from the effects of the Great Depression, until they once again manufactured combat shotguns in WWII.